New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-13
RECENT FICTION.


A noepER sBEpHERpEssl Romance Of Eskdale;
p AMELIA E BARR ia~0 PIP 49, D'0' A'''
sCHEHERAzADE. A London Nights Entertainmsnt
BY FLORENCE WARDEN 12mo, PIP S4s u. Apple
AyILLAGE MAID BY HELM HAYS. 12mo, PIP. 2eo
Thomas WHITAKER
NJ Barr is notable exception to the prevalent
fondness for the analysis of life in cities and the
excitements OF the crowd which charactcrizes
modern fiction. She writes by preference OF pas
torai scenes of country life, Of the existence INTO
which nature and natural phenomena
enter so largely, and of the slower
but perhaps clearer Development vi
human virtues and foblcs among such sur
roundings. "A Border Shephcrdess IS IN her ocso
form The story is that of beautiful ana none
girl Faith IIarrbec, daughter OF an ancient mouse
of Scotch Camcronians; one of tho Sc torder fami-
lies which for many generations veAed ana ma
raised the Wardcns of the Marches with their
perennial raids whose lawless exploits fofmeu
the subject of many stirring ballad and whose
force spirts were at last oueled by the fervid
preaching of John Knox and his heutenah's.
These old moss-troopcrs riders, and Hcvcrs
became mon their conversion, pccuiiar ciass'
Earnest and stcadfas of nature, they adopted the
new faith with an almost fierce ZEAL ana theIr
energies, always superintendent, being tanned ana
guided by religion. made of them singularly
upright, Independent and prosperous people No
finer stock ever fourshd i'll the three KnSdonls'
and they made their mark, they ana theif ue
sccndants in camp and senate, IN pulpit anu
exchange. OF these were the Harness. anu
Faith the flower of her family. Her character
is drawn with free hand. in large, Do'd iiies'
While not devoid of certain intellectual mar
rowness, traceable TO the doGmatc tenoenc'es Vi
her race and ancestry, this limitation aces HUI
interfere with her graciousness and sweetness.
Her lie is one of sore trial and many anncuohs'
Among these cannot be counted the faithessness
Of her first love- for he is a worthless fellow who
comes TO no good and would only have ruined
her life But she consecrates herself to the
service of q boy brother who has lost his reason
through an accident, and she is one OF the
women TO whom devotion and self-sacrihce seem
almost necessary. In her maturity she loves
Lord Graeme, a neighbor, and is about 10 DC
married to him. when he is killed while huht'hg,
Faith is Frustrated for time, but her naIurai
buoyancy RECEIVERS her. and in the care OF her
two young nephews, orphans of sister who had
eloped with Lord Gracmes nephew, she hnds
consolation. 1t is beautiful and admirably toid
story; quiet, breathing of the heather and the
windy uplands, free from every meretrlclous
effect, simple, natural and wholesome
1t would be difficult to find sharper contrast
than that between the last named novel ana
Miss Warden's new tale. "Scheherazade" is
peculiar book, and the scene is cast in anything
but pleasant places. The heroine is little
Eurasian damsel who affects Orcntahsm TO an
altogether improbable extent. To her comes
Young ollcr who incontinenty falls over head
in love and whose sudden affection she returns
with an ardor not perceptibIy removed from
pin1 n MI
manifest folly of the step, and then mysteries
begin to thcken A wicked East Indian, who
appears to be intended for Brother of the
Shadow yet who only once practises his magic
art upon Nouna, pursues her in a weird manner
Money comes to her unintclligibly. A large in
come is assured her The young couple launch
into fashionable life and things appear TO be
proceeding swmmingly, when the husband makes
an awful discovery, namely that his wie's mother
is O notorious figure in the deml-monde, known
rs Chloris White. 1t turns out, too, that this
same bad woman is the lawful wife of Nouna's
father, who is English peer, and who has
married again, with the cheerful disregard or
law and ethics supposed by some rOmancers TO
be characteristic OF the British ariStocIacy The
young officer, finding this out refuses naturally
TO receive any more money from ChlOrs White,
and she therefore vows vengeance upon him and
obtains it before long. The story is decidedly
sensational, not badly written, but with steady
indifference TO probability, which renders still
less iustiiablc the somewhat risque character
OF the plot. NOuna, the heroine. is rather
novel conception, but hardly natural or com
prehensible one.
A Village Maid" is not very brilliant or
interesting novel Perhaps it has some claim TO
the title realistic for 10 doubt there hundreds
of Villages life in which is as humdrum and
monctonous as most of this story. There does not,
however. a; pear to be any sufficient reason for
multiplying photographs of this particular kind